Activity Statement Preparation and Lodgement Procedure

Purpose. This procedure sets the steps and checks for preparing, reviewing and lodging business activity statements and instalment activity statements for clients through a registered agent.

1.Job setup

A job must be created in the Jobs and Lodgement Tracker for each client and period as soon as the period ends, with the due date, the preparer and the reviewer. Quarterly statements lodged through the agent portal have the agent lodgement due date, and monthly statements have the standard due date. The preparer must confirm the client's engagement letter covers activity statement services.

2.Reconciliation before preparation

Before the statement is prepared, the bank, credit card and loan accounts must be reconciled to the period end, the GST control accounts must agree with the tax reports, and the payroll figures must agree with single touch payroll reporting. Any unreconciled item must be listed on the query list and resolved with the client or documented as a known difference.

• Bank and credit card accounts reconciled
• GST collected and paid agree with the GST reports
• Wages and withholding agree with payroll reports
• Fuel tax credits and instalments checked
• Prior period amendments identified

3.Preparation

The preparer must review the GST coding of transactions over 1,000 dollars and any transaction in a category prone to error, including motor vehicles, insurance, bank fees, overseas purchases, capital items and private use. Adjustments must be recorded with a note. The statement must be prepared from the reconciled figures and the workpaper must show how each label was calculated.

4.Review

A registered agent who did not prepare the statement must review the workpaper, the reconciliations and the statement before it is sent to the client. The reviewer must sign off in the Jobs and Lodgement Tracker. Statements with a refund over 10,000 dollars or a variance of more than 30 per cent from the prior period require review by the Tax Manager.

5.Client approval and lodgement

The statement and a plain-language summary must be sent to the client through the portal for approval. The client's written approval must be received and filed before lodgement. The statement must be lodged through the agent portal by the registered agent and the lodgement receipt saved to the job.

6.After lodgement

The preparer must record the lodgement date, the payment or refund amount and the due date in the tracker, send the client the payment details and close the job. Where an error is found after lodgement, the Tax Manager must be told the same day and an amendment prepared under this procedure.